The following are extracts from the Club's quarterly magazine, which was published in March 2002:
NB: The club's race results are covered by weekly updates on the NEWS page
In accordance with Club Rules, I hereby give notice that the Annual General
Meeting of Barnet & District Athletic Club for 2002 will take place at the Clubhouse
on Thursday 10th October 2002. Motions for consideration and items for discussion
must be notified to me in writing by 15th August. Only items so notified will
be discussed and will appear on the Agenda, which will be sent to all members
in September.
Ted Kimber Hon. General. Sec, 11 Lane Gardens Bushey Heath, Herts WD23 1PE
(Tel 020 8950 4348)
MESSAGE FROM THE MEMBERSHIP SECRETARIES
First of all, thank you paying your subs, especially those that paid before
being asked – it makes life much easier for us. If you have queries regarding
membership please contact Maureen Shirley on: 020 8446 3336 or 07931 881766
email: john.shirley@virgin.net
Please remember to let us know if you change address, phone number or email,
it is important to keep the records up to date so you can be kept informed of
club activities. Email is now a very easy & quick way to keep in touch & the
more information we can get out this way the more we save on postage, so if
you have access to email please let Maureen know your up to date address, she
will see that it is passed on to the relevant people (team managers, social
sec. etc.) Just a reminder that there is no reduced rate for summer only athletes,
there has not been for some years. The subscription rates were approved at the
AGM & the meeting voted that there should be a standard rate for all members
as the benefits of membership, such as receiving the club magazine & club discount
in sports shops are available all year. It was felt that the rate set was reasonable
as we are a voluntary organisation trying to balance the books. However should
there be a hardship situation regarding fees, please contact one of us to discuss
the situation. If you decide to leave the club for any reason please remember
to send a letter of resignation to Maureen, so we can keep the books up to date
& remember that if you intend to join another club a SEAA form needs to be filled
in (even if it’s because of a change of address). Just a reminder that all membership
fees are due in October, prompt payment (to Maureen Shirley, 33 Percy Rd, N12
8BT) saves the club money (& the membership secretaries a lot of time & effort).
We hope all members enjoy their time with Barnet & District. Please feel free
contact either of us if you need any help or advice.
Maureen Shirley (020 8446 3336, john.shirley@virgin.net) & Penny Wylie (01438
820150, sandpwylie@hemscott.net)
The Club Magazine is produced 4 times a year, at the beginning of March, June,
September and December. Deadlines for submission of material for inclusion are
thus one week before the end of Feb, May, Aug, and Nov respectively. All members
are encouraged to submit material, whether it be race results, race or social
reports, details of forthcoming events, adverts, photographs, notable quotes,
or any material that might interest other members. The preferred method of receiving
material is in wordprocessed form (with Microsoft Word the preferred format,
although RTF or simple text is fine). I also preferred it if files are emailed
to the address below. Material can of course be accepted typed or handwritten.
Contact: Steve Chilton 70 Lavender Hill, Enfield, Middx EN2 0RQ. Tel: 0208
482 3381 Email: steve@chilton2000.freeserve.co.uk
The following new members have been elected at Committee since the last magazine: Sarah Hands, Peter Ruffhead, Ursula Wilson, Kawai Motohiro, Isabel Horton, Debbie Humphreys, Louise Prati, Kathrine Robinson, Jason Keeler, Victoria Dixon, Louise White, Robin Fish, Ty Holden, Laura Stych, Mark Smith and Tara Weaver. May you all have a good time with the Club, both athletically and socially.
SIR ARTHUR GOLD It is with regret that we have to record the passing of Sir Arthur Gold. He was a member of Barnet & District since its formation, and also a very influential member of the athletics establishment. He had been President of the European AA, Honorary Secretary of the BAAB, Chairman of the British Olympic Association, among many other posts. A full obituary appeared in Athletics Weekly on 29 May 2002.
At Copthall Stadium - 1pm to 4-30pm Events for all age groups (inc Under 11s) Timetable and entry form should be with this magazine. If not contact your team manager or download from this website.Please return your entry forms as soon as possible to: Steve Chilton. Anyone available to help officiate should contact Steve Harris (0208 368 6754).
THREE LEGGED TROPHY
The Orienteering, the Family Paarlauf and the Biathlon are all well established
club championship events and the award of the Three Legged Trophy for the competitor
with the lowest aggregate time in these three special events has proved popular.
The trophies for the Family Paarlauf are awarded only to family teams, but non
family teams may take part, particularly if an athlete wishes to get an aggregate
time for the Three Legged Trophy. Guests are welcome for the Orienteering and
Biathlon. Last year Sean Mitchell was an easy winner of the Three Legged Trophy
but several candidates who performed well the previous year did not take part
in all the events. Kirsty Johnstone was a worthy runner-up, well ahead of third
place Graham Barnett who was the first holder of the Trophy. The Orienteering
Championship take place on Sunday 11th Aug commencing at 9.00am and the location
will be announced on the club notice boards 10 days before the event. Competitors
will be issued with a map and instructions about the control points to be visited.
They will then started separately at one minute intervals and must locate the
controls as quickly as possible using a compass and/or knowledge of the ground/map.
If competitors wish to take part as a pair or small group they may do so but
they will not have a time to carry forward for the Three Legged Trophy. If you
are unable to get to the clubhouse to get details of the location you may telephone
Derek Wood on 020 8366 4240.
The Family Paarlauf will be on Thursday 15th Aug commencing at 7.15pm. A Paarlauf
is a useful form of training and should prove an interesting variation from
the normal Thursday evening run from the clubhouse. Teams of two have to run
12 laps of approximately 750 metres around Victoria Recreation Ground adjacent
to the clubhouse. Each competitor will run six alternate laps that will be a
total distance of about 2.6 miles. While one member of each team is running
the other member of the team will have a short rest and it is effectively a
continuous relay race for two runners. The family team trophies are for the
winning team, the first team with a lady and the team with the highest aggregate
age provided they finish within 20 minutes of the winning team. Sunday 18th
Aug is the date for the Biathlon Champs which will start and finish in Lawton
Road by the North Gate of Victoria Recreation Ground. For safety reasons it
is important to commence the cycle phase by 8.00am and competitors should report
to Jim Neville at the clubhouse by 7.30am. The approximate distances to be covered
are 12 miles on the bike followed by a 5.5 miles run. Competitors may team up
with someone if they do not want to do both disciplines but the whole event
must be done if a time is to be registered for the Three Legged Trophy. I hope
that a good number of you will want to participate in all three events and we
do, of course, have a club picnic after the two Sunday events.
Derek Wood
We have decide to formalise the recycling of second hand athletic kit. Up till
now the coaches and team managers have been carrying around spare kit and using
it as appropriate for newer/younger members and guests at events. So, if you
have any spare kit that still has life in it for someone else - vests, sweat
tops, track suits, trainers, spikes, etc - then please give it to any of the
team managers or coaches who will pass it on to the receycle team. They will
put it into the pool and try to find a new home for it. There will be a stall
at as many club events as possible. The first such stall will be at the Club
Champs at Copthall on Sat 29 June. Please help the club by participating in
this worthwhile scheme.
Contact: Mrs Prati on 020 8440 9884 or Mrs Smith on 020 8449 4995
NEW KIT - club vests, t-shirts, sweatshirts, and long sleeve t-shirts - can be obtained from John or Maureen Shirley. Contact them at training sessions, or phone 0208 446 3336.
A Special Meeting To be held on: Thursday 27th June at 8:00 p.m. in the Clubhouse You are invited to attend a special meeting to determine which events/races/fixtures the Club’s Team Managers and Coaches should focus on during the season. All members are welcome and Team Managers and Coaches, particularly, are urged to attend. If you are a regular or occasional racer, you will want to contribute to this valuable consultation.
Come to Barbadoth pleads Chrith Eubank, and I fell for it. A well organised tour by Sportstours International and none too pricey for such an exotic location and a really nice crowd of runners/partners, beautiful beachside hotel and fabulous weather but the running was pain, pain and pain. Having said that I would recommend ‘Run Barbados’ as a super Winter holiday - after all the racing bit in reality is soon over and the gruesomeness forgotten supping the beers and recounting the hell in the company of a fabulous Caribbean sunset. I had run the marathon a few years earlier in 3.11 but this year opted for the half thinking that would be a doddle. However, it was acknowledged that this year was the hottest ever for the event which included marathon, half and 10k. After 3 miles virtually everyone in my race had ‘had it’ which left circa 15000 strides nay shuffles to bear. A bit of a knee niggle didn't help, but in the event my 1 hour 45 minutes dead compared quite well as only being some 7/8 minutes down on my UK time. Others were well adrift. I was 37th out of 120 starters and 2nd over 60.
The highlight of the marathon was the superb performance of Hugh Jones. Modest
as ever at the pre-race jingo Hugh said he now only runs for fun with no serious
training regime. It was an inspiring sight seeing Hugh at the age of 46 passing
all but one of the Kenyan contingent to finish in 2 hours 31 minutes. I am sure
he would have won if the road hadn't run out. Where are the new Hugh Jones,
Ron Hills, Ian Thompsons, Charlie Speddings, Geoff Smiths, Steve Jones to name
but a few from yesteryear who would tan the best we have now. The modern youngsters
idea of sport is to fill their bellies with beer or crouching over the laptop
in often gormless exercise. There seems little hope for the future of British
distance running - Paula Radcliffe cannot do it indefinitely.The youngsters
simply cannot stomach the dedication and involved pain that somehow us over
60s continue to endure and perhaps even enjoy though if you ‘Run Barbadoth’
be sensible and stick to the 10km event.
David Fereday
Following a conversation I had with Roger Thompstone following the MWRL St. Albans race, I decided that he might enjoy having a crack at the Grizzly, now recognised as one of Britain’s most popular events. Indeed it’s probably second only to the London Marathon in being always oversubscribed. I suspected that he hadn’t read much about the event, so I made sure that I sent him some reports and photographs of previous years’ races. This to protect myself from his potentially violent response towards me when he found out what the conditions in the race are actually like. I don’t like pain. Especially when it comes in the shape of a punch to the nose.
Despite this pre-warning he agreed to take part. With about 1800 competitors milling about at the start I was unable to locate him before the off. After that there was no chance of me seeing him until the end as he runs too fast for a man of his age and I am far more intelligent (?) and don’t. I’m quite sure that he soon began to wonder if he had made the right decision to take part. This year’s route started off with the customary rush along the (somewhat pebbly!) beach, through the yacht club and then back through the town. I had been led to believe that we were running in the opposite direction to that normally used and so was not expecting that we would immediately have to climb the long hill up to the village of Beer. I always hate this bit as I don’t like running up hills, (a bit of a problem if you live in Cuffley!), especially if, as I did, you’ve turned up at the start too late for the aerobics warm up session and have to start the race ‘cold’. It was at Beer that the race turned inland onto the new route, instead of diverting down on to the beach as it usually does. What a pity I thought. A nice 3 mile run across a pebble beach first thing in the morning wakes the whole system up. Then I remembered Rodger’s potential reaction and changed my mind. The thing about the Grizzly is that the whole area takes a great pride in it and regards the event as ‘theirs’. Thus many of them volunteer to help in any way they can. Most remarkably several farmers, (NB. there had been a suspected case of foot and mouth in the area 2 days before the race), offered to move some of their fences to provide the new route and to put in stiles if necessary. One of them thought that the slurry on his farm was too deep for us to run through safely and asked the next door farmer whether he would allow the event to cross his farm. The answer was yes, “I’ll move my pigs out of the way. (Would that happen in our area?). Thus we found ourselves running through a lot of metal pig shelters. Those, and the ground that the pigs had been living on before they were moved on our behalf. Lovely stuff. I’m sure it would be great for the garden. We went on. Up slippery hills. Down slippery hills etc. Then we came to the first little bog. As is usual on the Grizzly, they then took us through a stream to clean our shoes. Mine looked quite clean again. Then came the re bog. This one was 25-30 yards long, at least, and thigh deep if you tried to go straight through the middle. I did see one woman who, probably unintentionally, had tried that brave gesture. I watched her desperately trying to lift her legs out of the ‘sucking’ mud for some time as I was in the slow moving line that was equally desperately, trying to cling on to the trees at the edge of the trench in order to be able to get along the slightly shallower mud at the side. At least I now know that it’s no use rocking your body backwards and forwards, as she was doing, to make the hole your legs are in somewhat bigger in order that you can pull your legs out more easily. Indeed, that you can pull them out at all, let alone easily. It just doesn’t work. Just go straight for the option she finally had to use, and that I have had to use in the past. Pray that your shoes have been tied up tightly, and get someone else to try to pull you out. Sometimes results in you slipping backwards into the mire and getting very muddy but it’s usually effective in the end. After the bog came a stile to cross. Now this caused a hold up and a line of runners stretching right back to the bog. Hence those that were still trying to get through it, had to stand in it until there was room for them to step out onto the slippery slope that led to the stile.
Finally we got onto the tops of the cliffs. Now a strong head on breeze makes running difficult. A 60 mph head on gale makes it nearly impossible. I, along with many others, was on occasions brought totally to a stop by the wind. At other times we were all blown sideways when the wind direction veered. The most ‘exciting’ part though was when, after yet another run along that beach, we had to climb over Beer Head. The bottom bit was at least easy as there are steps. Mind you, there are a lot of them and they are steep and were very slippery. It just took a lot of determination and effort. It was when we got to the top of the steps that things really got serious. You still have quite a climb to reach the top. The path becomes very narrow, only about a foot wide in some places. On one side is the cliff face. On the other a sheer drop of several hundred feet down to that very hard stony beach. Luckily the gale force wind was blowing from the sea and pushing us towards the cliff, ie the safe way. Despite that, as I was passing these sections I couldn’t help thinking about what would happen if the wind direction suddenly changed, or indeed even if it only dropped for a few seconds. We must all have been leaning fervently towards the cliff. I know I was grabbing on to what grass I could find to give myself some physical, (and psychological ), help. Had the wind veered, or dropped, we would all have surely automatically reacted by straightening up and potentially overbalancing and taking the quick route back to the beach. I don’t mind admitting that I was very glad to get to the top. From there it was just a run across a few fields, down to the promenade, back on to the beach, back up to the promenade. A quick (?) sprint to overtake a runner that had just overtaken me and another Grizzly had been successfully completed.
One incredible thing about the Grizzly is that by 6.30 pm the same evening
full results are available on their web site. How many other races can match
that? Thus I know that this year there were 1306 finishers in the main race
and many, many more in the Cub and Junior Cub Runs that are also held. Joe Cox
also took part, but blaming tiredness following his routeing via Seaton in Cornwall
rather than coming directly to Seaton in Devon, diverted onto the Cub Run. I
cannot say what his finishing time/place was. PS. Don‘t forget that Rodger is
a Kiwi and thus Jonah Lomu is undoubtedly a personal friend of his. Luckily,
Rodger has told me that he actually enjoyed the event. I‘m safe! 163rd Roger
Thompstone 2:36.40 1155th Brian Glover 3:52.15
Brian Glover
Tue 11 Jun Midweek Road League, Royston Please note that this is a change from the fixture card. It has been changed from Thu to Tue.
Wed 12 Jun Herts U13 Challenge, Watford Track & Field competition for U13 boys and girls. Starts at 7pm. Details from Jim Neville (8449-6487) or Steve Chilton (8482-3381).
Sun 23 Jun Borehamwood Half Marathon Road race that we help to organise, which raises vital funds for the club. Offers to help please to Penny Wylie on 01438 820150.
Sat 29 Jun Club Champs, Copthall See separate advert for full details. Please contact Steve Harris if you are able to help officiate. Download entry form.
Thu 4 Jul Sportshall U11 Competition, Crystal Palace The Club has again been asked by Barnet Sports Development to organise/team manage the Borough team for the Sportshall Athletics competition that is part of the London Youth Games. Athletes selected have been informed. Details from Steve Chilton (0208 482 3381).
Sun 7 Jul Herts Vets Champs, Stevenage Details from team managers. We ought to have a chance of a hat full of medals with our strength.
Thu 11 Jul Clubhouse Miles, Clubhouse Two and a bit laps round Victoria Park. Races for all age groups (inc U11s). First race will be for young athletes starting at 7-05pm, with races for Seniors and Vets starting at 7-25pm. Presentations afterwards in the Clubhouse. Medals in all age groups.
Sat 13 Jul Summer Party
It’s Summer Do time once more,
So get yourselves up on the floor
This year there is a Scottish feel,
Now get your kilts out for a reel
Hope you will make it to the dance,
Where like the Scots we’ll jig and prance.
Time:- 7.30pm - midnight Venue:- Southgate Masonic Centre, 88 High Street,
Southgate, London, N14 Ticket Price:- £15.00 (price includes dance / tuition
and buffet) Own drinks available from the bar For tickets please contact: Tiffany
Stephens, 51 Brunswick Park Road, London N11 1JH Tel:- 0208 368 3747/07855 986818
primrose@flowerofscotland.freeserve.co.uk
Thu 18 Jul Midweek Road Mob Match, Trent Park Home promotion. Offers of help please to any committee member.
Sun 11 Aug Club Orienteering Champs Venue - local. Entries on the day are acceptable, but if you could let me know in advance it will assist in my catering for the usual post race picnic. Telephone Derek Wood 0208 366 4240 or see club noticeboard.
Thu 15 Aug Family Paarlauf, Clubhouse This Club Championship event is over 12 laps of the Victoria Park, for family teams of two consisting of Father and Son, Father and Daughter, Mother and Son, Mother and Daughter or Husband and Wife. All will run 6 alternate laps of approximately 700 metres, which will be a total distance in the region of 2.5 miles. Entries on the day - start time 7-15 pm.
Sat 17 Aug Club Barbeque, Gerry Webster’s The annual club barbeque at Gerry’s, 7-30pm. Tickets £5 from Tiffany Stephens or Kirsty Johnstone. Bring your own drinks.
Sun 18 Aug Biathlon Champs 12 mile bike ride followed by a 5.5 mile run. Guests may compete. If you don’t want to do both disciplines, form a relay team. The bike ride will be off at 8am to avoid the traffic as much as possible. Details from Jim Neville (0208 449 6487).
Sat 7 Sep SWTFL, Medway The last women’s league match of the season. We would like maximum support at this final fixture - we may well be in the frame for promotion.
Sun 15 Sep EYAL Playoff match, Watford We stand a chance of getting to the playoff match again this year. Keep this date clear in your diaries.
Thu 10 Oct AGM, Clubhouse The Club’s Annual General Meeting. To be held at the Clubhouse. Details of this and the Presentation Evening will be published in the Sept magazine. This is just a selection of the forthcoming events. The full information is available on the summer fixture list. If you haven’t got one see Alan Radley or Jim Neville.